Detroit Pistons 'Ask David' questions: When it comes to Ben Wallace, will he or won't he?

AP File PhotoDetroit Pistons veteran Ben Wallace, right, shown here during last season's finale with teammate Brandon Knight, still hasn't announced his plans for playing again, nor has the team.

Lots of your Detroit Pistons
questions today, and presumably until a decision is made, are
centered on the center – not Andre Drummond, but Ben Wallace, who
still hasn't announced his retirement, while the Pistons still coyly
refuse to dismiss the possibility of his return.

That decision could have a
profound impact on second-round draft pick Khris Middleton, who
remains unsigned.

Let's get to it.

Q: Should the Pistons sign Khris
Middleton or pursue Ben Wallace and do you think the Pistons will
make the playoffs this upcoming season? – Corey J.

Q: Hey David, I was wondering, what are
the chances for Ben Wallace staying with us? And what percentage
would you give us for a playoff run, and if we don't make it, what do
we need to do to make it? – David

Q: Have the Pistons signed Khris
Middleton? And since he is young and maybe still growing, do you
think he has the potential to be a better scorer and player down the
line than Tayshaun Prince, once he gets completely healthy, over his
knee injury, and gets stronger and learns Coach Frank's system and
maybe does a year in the D-League? Some people have compared him to
a smaller version of Kevin Durant, fair or not! What do you think
about his future with the Pistons or in the NBA? And do you think
the Pistons will sign a third point guard like they usually do, and
if so, who do you think they would go after? – Robby Hart

A: These three questions are
interrelated because the Pistons have 14 players with guaranteed
contracts for 2012-13 season and just more than a month to make a
decision on signing either Middleton or Wallace. Or neither. I
doubt Wallace would drag out his decision for this long if he weren't
serious about playing again. He hasn't responded to several messages
lately but he speaks regularly with Pistons president of basketball
operations Joe Dumars and it seems the team might be willing to
create a spot for him. Middleton, who hasn't been signed (Kim
English, also a second-round draft pick, has been), will become a
free agent on Sept. 6 unless the Pistons tender him or he elects to
play professionally outside the NBA, the latter of which would allow
the Pistons to retain his rights for one year beyond the end of his
obligation to the non-NBA team. The Pistons already are extended on
contracts but the possibility of an offseason trade still exists.
I'll call it 60-40 that the Pistons make a trade that creates a spot
for Wallace. It would be best for everyone to stash Middleton
overseas for a season then bring him back when the Pistons have more
roster flexibility next summer. As for Middleton's future, comparing
him to Prince would be patently unfair, much less Durant. Prince is
a very good NBA player who started on a world championship team. If
Middleton could just cash checks for as long as Prince, he'd be a
major success. I do think he'll find his way into the NBA at some
point. That's all most second-rounders can ask.

As to the other questions, if the
Pistons pick up a point guard, it will be through trade; otherwise
they'll go with Brandon Knight, Will Bynum and some help from Rodney
Stuckey. The playoffs aren't out of the question because we can
assume the Pistons won't start as absurdly poorly as last season
(although a six-game Western Conference trip in the first week of the
season won't help), but they finished 10 games out of the last
playoff spot in 2011-12, which is a lot to make up in one year. The
best thing that could happen for them is to be competitive and make
it interesting, just miss the playoffs, keep next year's first-round
draft pick (which is lottery-protected in the Ben Gordon-for-Corey
Maggette trade), hope to get lucky with the ping-pong balls, then hit
free agency hard when they have all that money freed up next summer.

Q: Have you heard of any free agents
who might be interested in coming to Detroit or who Joe Dumars might
want to try to get? Also, why doesn't Dumars ever try to get any
big-name players?

A: The Pistons, as covered frequently,
are saving their free agency salvos for next summer after contracts
expire for Will Bynum, Austin Daye, Corey Maggette and Jason Maxiell.
Dumars made his position clear on high-end free agents the day after
last season ended, when he said he will pursue that bidding gladly
when presented with appropriate financial flexibility and
opportunity. He didn't have that during the exhaustive ownership
transition. Next summer, he gets his chance.

Q: I was just wondering if there have
been any talks in the Pistons becoming a third team in the ongoing
Dwight Howard trade? I keep hearing the Lakers and Rockets are
looking for a third team but every team mentioned seems to drop out.
If they did get involved would Tayshaun Prince and/or Charlie
Villanueva be traded?

A: No chance. Besides the difficulties
in making such a deal work from financial and chemistry standpoints,
Howard will be a free agent after next season. Assuming the Pistons
could devise an attractive enough package to satisfy Orlando, they
still would need sign-and-trade protection to be interested in
someone they're going to lose after next year without it. To keep
Howard will mean paying a maximum contract equal to 30 percent of the
team's salary cap, increasing to 35 percent after he plays his 10th
season (next year is his ninth). And that requires Howard agreeing
to sign off on the sign-and-trade. It's a non-starter.

Q: Hello David, do you think the
Pistons will try to acquire a star due to the cap space? I would
like to know if we can expect a future major trade who permits a
qualification in the playoff. – Alex from France

A: Bonjour, Alex! I answered most of
your questions above but I simply had to include yours, in the
international spirit of Olympic unity. Acquiring a top player is
certainly something Dumars would like to do. Problem is, the Pistons
don't have enough players who they're willing to trade to create a
playoff-guarantee blockbuster. It would be difficult for them to fit
such a trade under the salary cap, as you noted, but also would be
difficult to fit philosophically. The Pistons are more focused this
year on blending Andre Drummond into their young core, seeing how he
fits, then jumping heavily into the market next summer. The
rebuilding project isn't a long-term endeavor but it won't be
completed this summer, nor probably next summer, either.

Q: I strongly believe our Pistons can
and should be playing the Miami “Cavs” in the Eastern Conference
Finals in the 2013-14 season, barring any major setbacks. Do you
think it's possible? I get the impression Andre Drummond wants to
and will do everything he can to earn his place in the league.
Brandon Knight is a very competitive student, Greg Monroe equals a
young Tim Duncan, I love ALMOST every piece on our bench. My only
question mark is will Rodney Stuckey progress or regress at the two.
Lastly, how can the Pistons stash Yancy Gates overseas and would he
protected from other teams? I love him in Jason Maxiell's place next
year. – Coach Don

A: Can? Maybe. Should? Nuh-uh.
Getting to the conference finals two years from now is possible only
if the Pistons score huge in free agency next summer and Drummond
becomes a Howard-like beast, and I don't mean a malcontent
coach-killer. Stuckey is a muscular athlete who plays very
physically and the compressed season seemed to affect him more than
most last year, when he suffered from a variety of injuries.
Consistency is his next step but I don't see him regressing, if he's
healthy. Gates, the undrafted free agent from Cincinnati who played
for the Pistons in summer league, can pursue any opportunity he
wants. There is no way to protect him without signing him.

Q: The Pistons need to move a player or
two before the season, preferably Charlie Villanueva and/or Austin
Daye; I saw your answer about Ivan Calderon and how Villanueva
probably won't work for Toronto, so how about Golden State? If the
Warriors don't land Kenyon Martin or Carl Landry, how about CV for
the back-up center Andris Biedrens? The Pistons could use an
experienced center next season as Andre Drummond matures. Biedrens
has two years left on his contract, like Charlie. We can amnesty
Biedrens next summer or trade his expiring contract for a free agent
or player next summer. Biedrens needs a change of scenery and has
more left than bringing back Ben Wallace. Also, Pat Ewing is looking
for work as a big-man coach, so how about him helping with Drummond?
Any thoughts? – Lawrence

A: Look, Coach Frank, I've told you
before, if you need my opinion on these things, just call. But I'll
play along for now. We already know you don't like Daye and Charlie,
so give it a rest already, will you? And what's the matter with Roy
Rogers all of a sudden that you want Pat Ewing to coach Drummond?
Dissension in the coach ranks?

OK, Lawrence, just in case you're
really not Coach Frank, the Villanueva-for-Biedrens trade might work
financially. Biedrens certainly could help with defense and
rebounding and is a relatively efficient offensive player for someone
who has to create his own. You're not off-base in saying that such a
trade, assuming both parties would agree to it, could hinge on
whether the Pistons do or don't want to bring back Wallace.

But you've also traded away a
unique NBA commodity, a floor-stretching power forward, for a true
interior player who can't step away from the basket. If you move
Villanueva, after already moving Ben Gordon, then your 3-point
threats are reduced to Brandon Knight, rookie Kim English, maybe
Rodney Stuckey on a good night, maybe Austin Daye on a really, really
good night. So just in case you really are the coach, I'd advise you
to think long and hard about that one, then go upstairs and tell them
that as much as you'd like Charlie traded, you'd run a grave risk of
being the team that can't shoot straight without him.

Of course, you'd have to play him
for that to matter.

Have a Pistons-related question for
David Mayo? Email him at dmayo@mlive.com and put “Ask David” in
the subject line.